Thursday June 13th and Friday June 14th, 2019 - Ghent, Belgium

While visiting Laos two years ago, I met three young people from Ghent. They were Veerle, Ellen and Pieter. When I discovered that Ghent was a mere 2.25 hours train ride from Paris, it seemed like a really excellent idea to meet up with them for dinner!

L-R: Veerle, Ellen & Pieter

How glad I was that I did. At first I was chastising myself for giving up time in Paris, but the instant I arrived, I rejoiced in the lack of traffic, the much smaller number of tourists and the totally different architecture which exists 

The first thing I discovered, to great relief, was that the old city center has eliminated private cars, so it is free from congestion. One sees pedestrians, bike riders, trams and commercial/utility vehicles.

There is also a little 'hop on - hop off' bus. My friends said this is provided to allow people with limited mobility issues to still get around. It is free and can be used by anyone.

Of course, there were lots of bike racks. It seems that even in lovely Ghent, securing one's bike is pretty important. If it doesn't end up stolen, it will be 'pranked' to the bottom of the river, as this is a university town..........possibly student drinking contributes?

Before I go on to actually show you more of Ghent, here is another reason for rejoicing. They had clearly marked and clean public toilets! Paris needs to pick up on this idea!

Ghent developed at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie in the late Middle Ages and by 1300 AD was home to 50,000 people. It is still a port and now a university city. Tourism is becoming consequential, but happily it must be visited on foot - I saw no big tourist buses blocking the lovely sights. In spite of flowers and vegetation, there was a northern European feeling of severity in the architecture - perhaps that was related to the grey skies.

There were a number of consequential cathedrals, along with some lovely city buildings. Clearly it had been very successful in its day. (And still is.)

A glimpse of sunshine helped brighten things up!

Although I was only 185 miles north of Paris, I was in an entirely different place. There is no clear demarcation geographically that separates France and Belgium, yet the culture, language and architecture are very different. When I mentioned my surprise at this to my friends, they responded that the lack of geographical boundaries must be why the French invaded so often! Invasion and occupation has a long history here - going back to the Vikings! It must get tiresome! As a result, most people here speak three languages - Flemish (Dutch), French and English. Communication for me was quite easy here, for which I was grateful.

At one time this area was renowned for its lace-making, so I enjoyed seeing lace at the windows. I understand that much of it, along with textiles in general, was outsourced to Turkey, so middle-eastern immigrants here are mostly from Turkey.

One 'sweet treat' I knew I must try were Ghent noses or 'cuberdons'. This is a candy that has an odd waxy coating around it, with a syrupy jelly inside. It was a happy accidental discovery made by a local pharmacist in 1873. He incorporated his medicines into syrups to help them last longer on the shelf and to improve their palatability. One of the batches went 'wrong' and days later he noticed the waxy coating. They are now a specialty of the area. These are the traditional cherry flavored ones. Because their shelf-life is pretty short - they crystallize after three days - they are not found much outside this area.

They are now made in many different flavors. After recovering from the sugar rush of the cherry ones, I decided not to try the others! However, selling these to tourists is serious business. I was told of a 'nose war' that has taken place between two vendors. They actually got into fisticuffs with each other, were suspended from trading for a time and now have to maintain a set distance from each other! In case you are really hurting for entertainment, here's a link to the story https://theculturetrip.com/europe/belgium/articles/a-tale-of-two-cuberdon-vendors-the-story-behind-ghents-little-nose-war/

Noses were not the only candy of note. These smurfs were made from marzipan.

The castle - Gravensteen Castle - had the appropriate greyness and severity! In the short time I was here, an exploration was not possible. Instead I took a brief walking tour of the city.

We started at the old fish market.

One of the stops was the old meat market, which is now a tourist venue. However, the hams hanging from the ceiling are real, but covered in wax to stop them dripping on people!

I liked some of the modern touches, like the metal decoration over the door here.

There was a simplicity and clean-ness of style which was refreshing.

And here's a decor idea if you don't want to spend money!

My friends and I had a delicious meal and a delightful visit.

It had been well worth the few hours on a train. Very nice.